Political Fundraising

A couple years ago I somehow got added to an Obama supporters email mailing list. My best guess is that it came about when I clicked on something on facebook to say that I was going to vote. I definitely never knowingly gave my email address to any political party or candidate. I never unsubscribed because I've been trying to be at least somewhat informed politically and this was giving me views and information I wasn't getting elsewhere.

Lately, however, it's mostly consisted of pleas to donate or sign cards for Barack or Michelle Obama (birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day). Which is understandable. The thing that bothers me is that most of the fundraising emails say something indicating that if Obama doesn't win, it's because they didn't earn enough. And, yes, the dollars do matter by a lot. But.

By saying unilaterally that how much they are able to raise now will determine what the headlines will be in November, they are completely discounting the possibility that more Americans like Romney's positions and qualifications than want Obama back. Sure, the campaign emails aren't going to come out and say that people might prefer Romney for his politics or perceived ability to get the job done. But the implication that no informed voter would choose to vote for Romney is incredibly arrogant. And the implication that the average American votes entirely based on who has better campaign materials is a bit insulting.

Edit: Yesterday I got an email that said "And the only way someone like Mitt Romney -- (content removed to reduce risk of issues debate here, there being plenty of other places for that) -- defeats someone like Barack Obama, is if the other side spends us into oblivion." The specific issues I removed happen to be controversial - as in, I hear arguments for both sides. On one issue in particular I was under the impression from some political poll that more than half of the country is against Obama's position. I'm smelling some false-consensus effect. Thinking about it in those terms actually makes it slightly less irritating. Slightly. Limiting themselves to 5 emails a week would also do them a lot of good in my book.